Butternut Squash and Cranberry Tart

January 10, 2016

I’ve adapted this recipe from an American cookbook that I love called, The Fresh and Green Table, by Susie Middleton. The recipe makes a fantastic pastry that is really useful. Use the quantities here and you’ll get enough for two tarts, so you can put one lot of the dough in the freezer for a quick meal another time.

The dish basically requires two things: to make the pastry and to make the filling. So:

Pastry

325 g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

225 g very cold butter cut into small cubes

75 ml cold water (I put it in the fridge if I know I’m going to be making this)

In a food processor with the mixing blade: put in the flour and salt and pulse quickly to combine. Then put in the butter and pulse quickly about 15-20 times until the butter particles are very small, like tiny pebbles. With the motor running, pour the water in a steady stream (will take about 10 seconds). Stop the motor then pulse quickly 6 or 8 times till the mixture starts to leave the sides and clump together.

2. Tip it into a big mixing bowl and knead it briefly against the sides of the bowl to finish bringing it together as a dough. Knead again once or twice to make it smooth.

3. Divide the dough ball in half, and shape each half into a disc about 10cm across. Wrap in cling film and put one in the fridge and the other in the freezer. You need to remove the dough from the fridge about 45 minutes before using it.

Roast the squash at about GM 4/180 degrees for 25/30 minutes till soft but not browning too much

Fry the onion and garlic together for ten minutes

Turn off the heat, add in the cranberries and then the squash, and some lemon zest and/or some squirts of lemon juice.

To make the tart

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a round that is about 28cm across. Remember to keep flouring your rolling pin to stop it sticking. I’ve got a plate that is 28cm across so I use that to put on the pastry and cut round it to make a nice circle, adding the extra pastry onto the rest. Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin and lay it on a baking sheet, well-oiled. Grate parmesan across the pastry.

Tip the filling into the centre and spread it out, making sure you leave a 2-3cm border, then fold up that border bit by bit – you will probably have about 2/3rd of the pie open, and a third covered (like my picture). Grate some more parmesan over the top.

Cook it in the oven at GM 4/180 degrees for about half an hour till the pastry is cooked.

looks yummy! When I roast butternut squash I often put the seeds in a separate small dish with a tiny drizzle of chilli oil and then put them on the table to pick on while waiting for dinner. I’ve just checked on the net and apparently you are meant to wash and dry and salt them first and bake them for 5 mins.